


Big Bird

by edema_ruh



Series: Spider and Iron [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: And Then Immediatelly Tries to Act As If It Never Happened, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Peter Parker, Character Development, Dad!Tony, Dad!Tony Stark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Heart Attacks, Hurt Tony, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker Accidentally Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-02 22:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14554443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edema_ruh/pseuds/edema_ruh
Summary: "You're an ok kid", Tony said. Peter actually laughed at this, knowing that it was probably the most he was going to get from Tony for now."Thanks?", he said, smiling nervously. "I guess you're an ok dad, too.D-dude!An ok dude!", he immediately corrected himself, eyes widening in horror. "An ok dude! I meant dude!"Alternatively: Peter is the one who saves Tony, for a change.





	Big Bird

Peter was always running.

Even before he became Spider-Man, he had always been running. He seemed to have a special talent for being late for school, and after he added crime-fighting to his list of daily chores, getting to Midtown High in time seemed to become even harder. May had a very serious talk about time-managing and being responsible after the string of detentions Peter got just from being late, but no matter how hard he tried, he had to run his way to school 9 out of 10 times.

He was also always running when he was Spider-Man, chasing after bad guys to stop them from breaking the law and hurting people. That was Peter’s favorite type of run – having the adrenaline coursing through his veins as the thrill of the chase overcame him; having the satisfaction of capturing his enemies and keeping the people safe from harm. Whereas his runs to school frequently made him anxious and often resulted in detentions, his runs after bad guys always left him with a taste of satisfaction and the feeling of fulfilling his duty, even if the feeling often came along with bruises that colored his skin and that he poorly managed to hide from his aunt.

When he became Tony Stark’s personal apprentice – how cool was that sentence?! –, he figured that his life would end up having a lot more running. His schedule was already tight with school, homework, quizzes and his secret life as Spider-Man. He really didn’t need to add tutoring to his already busy life, but this was _Tony Stark_. Willing to teach him things. Science-y things. About _vibranium_. How could Peter possibly say no to something like that?! Even if he would end up having less time to himself and way more running in his life, Peter figured it was worth it. It was totally worth it.

There was absolutely nothing that could go south about all this.

 

 

 

“That’s not how you use a Holotable”.

“They don’t exactly teach us how to use Holotables in Midtown Tech, Mr. Stark”.

“Really? What are they teaching kids these days?”, Tony shook his head in disapproval, sarcasm evident in his tone.

“High School stuff”, Peter shrugged, stepping away from the table he had been failing to use and allowing Tony to step in. The man took a rapid look at what Peter had been trying to do – zoom into the hologram of a vibranium particle to study it better – and clicked his tongue.

“Ok, kid. Usually you have to take a whole semester to learn how to use a Holotable, but since you’re smart, I think I can teach you by myself. What you have to do is – are you tweeting?”, he turned to look at Peter, who was typing something down on the screen of his new phone. He quickly closed the app he was using as soon as Tony turned to look at him, but the unmistakable twitter logo had lingered in the phone’s screen enough for Tony to see it.

“Just texting May”, Peter said, shoving the phone back into his pocket and assuming an unnaturally straight position, clearly trying to look like he was ready to learn whatever Tony was willing to teach him, but it was evident he was lying.

“Yeah? Texting May?”, Tony raised his eyebrow, crossing his arms at Peter. “So if I ask Friday to read your last tweets it won’t be from a few seconds ago or have anything to do with what we’re doing here?”, he asked in a condescending tone. Peter sighed.

“C’mon, Mr. Stark”, he whined. “I promise I will pay full attention from now on”, he said, making an x on the top of his chest using the tip of his finger. Tony rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Friday, when was Mr. Parker’s last tweet activity?”, Tony asked the ceiling, pointing Peter with a victorious look.

“Approximately a minute ago, boss”, Friday replied immediately. “The tweet consisted of a selfie of Peter in the workshop, along with the description, quote, ‘Ready to work with Mr. Stark!’, unquote. It has zero likes, zero retweets, and zero replies”.

“That… that last part wasn’t really necessary”, Peter complained, but gave Tony an apologetic side glance anyway. Tony shook his head again, but turned back to face the Holotable.

“Put that away and let’s get started”, he instructed. Peter made sure to turn his phone off before approaching Tony by the table and watching him with close attention. “Now, listen to what I say. God, I can’t believe I’m wasting my time with this. Now, here, when you want to zoom in, you have to pinch your fingers like this”, he demonstrated to Peter the right way to pinch his fingers, “and pull them apart like this. Here, DIY”, he said, stepping away to give Peter space.

“Okay”, Peter said, nervously, trying to mimic exactly what Tony had done just a moment before. He pinched his fingers above the image on the Holotable and pulled them apart, but the image he had been trying to zoom in came out all distorted and unrecognizable.

“Nope, that’s not it”, Tony clicked his tongue and shook his head. “That’s ok. Like I said, it takes a whole semester to learn how to use it properly. Here, try again”, he said, doing a quick series of movements with his hands in order to make the holographic image return to its original proportions. “Look, like this”, he waved his hand right in front of Peter’s face, making exaggerated pinching movements as if to make his point clear. “Now try it”.

Peter tried to mimic exactly what Tony had just showed him, and this time, the image still turned out distorted, but less than before. After trying a few times, under Tony’s supervision, he managed to zoom into the holographic image almost perfectly, even if the edges were a bit more askew than the original image’s.

“I think that’s good enough for your first time”, Tony shrugged after Peter’s seventh attempt at zooming into the image. “You still accomplished more than 75% of my class on the first day”.

“Really?”, Peter’s eyes widened with excitement as he followed Tony away from the Holotable and into a different desk on the workshop. Tony sighed.

“Yes, but no reason to go all excited puppy on me”, he said, reaching for a mug that was sitting forgotten at the edge of the table and drinking from its contents. He grimaced, but downed the whole mug in one go. “You still have a long path ahead of you”.

“Sure, of course, Mr. Stark”, Peter said respectfully, nodding his head.

“Why were you trying to zoom into the vibranium particle?”, Tony asked, not looking at Peter as he turned on his computer’s monitor and analyzed some series of charts on the screen.

“I was…”, Peter started, slightly embarrassed. Even though Tony seemed to be starting to grow warm to his general presence – after all, this was already the sixth week of his apprenticeship, which meant he had been seeing Tony on a weekly basis for over a month –, Peter was still apprehensive of his judgement. Even though he knew he didn’t really have to try so hard, he wanted to earn Tony’s respect. He wanted Tony to be proud of him, but the guy was so emotionally secluded and difficult to read that Peter never knew whether what he did was crossing a line or not. Tony seemed to care about him, yes, but was constantly rolling his eyes and sighing as if Peter was just some annoying kid that had wandered into his workshop by accident. And even though Peter knew that was just the way that Tony dealt with other people, it still made him very unsure about their… relationship. Was turning the Holotable on and trying to use it without supervision, or without even asking Tony about it first, crossing a line? Peter couldn’t tell, and he never knew when something he did actually pissed Tony off or if he was just acting like it did. He decided the best course of action would to be honest with Tony about what he had been trying to do, since getting caught in a lie would be more embarrassing than anything. “I was trying to analyze how the particles bond with other substances so that I could figure out how to apply it into clothing more effectively”.

Tony still didn’t look at him, eyes running through the charts on his computer screen. He hummed lowly at Peter’s explanation, leaning his chin on one hand as he read the data in front of him. Peter stood beside him, waiting for an answer. It was several moments before Tony spoke up.

“And what did you find?”, he asked. Even though his face looked devoid of any interest, he still sounded slightly curious. Peter shifted his weight between his legs.

“I couldn’t find much, since I couldn’t zoom in properly in what I wanted”, he admitted. Upon Tony’s silence, he decided to continue. “But the reason why I did it was because I think that changing the temperature of the vibranium isn’t enough to manipulate it; I think that you should try changing the pressure as well”.

This was enough to finally make Tony look up at him from the screen, an unreadable look in his eyes. He stared at Peter with interest for a long time, a quizzical look on his face.

“What makes you think that?”, he asked, shifting on the rolling chair so that his whole body was turned to Peter. He crossed his arms above his chest like a patient teacher. Peter swallowed dry.

“Well, if the vibranium absorbs kinetic energy, then the molecules can’t be easily separated, otherwise any change in temperature would make it melt or freeze and it would lose its absorbing capacity”, Peter explained. “I think that it would take a high temperature _and_ a even higher atmospheric pressure in order to manipulate it, but I mean, it’s just an idea, and I was trying to see if that was really the case before I brought it up to you”, he shrugged. “But I couldn’t work the Holotable out”.

Tony sniffed and continued to stare at Peter, his head slightly tilted to the side like a curious cat’s, and then he unceremoniously turned back to his computer. Peter watched him as he ran his eyes across the data again, a pensive look on his face.

“Take a look at this and tell me your thoughts”, Tony said, rolling his chair to the side so that Peter could step in and look at the screen and tilting the screen towards him. As he read the information on the charts and his brain made sense of the data Tony was showing him, Peter felt his jaw drop upon the realization that his theory had been right. He blinked several times before turning his head to look at Tony, who looked like he was trying to hold back a grin. He looked almost proud.

“I was right”, Peter said, sounding equally astounded and excited. Tony gave him a smug shrug and nodded.

“I figured it out a while ago. Just needed time to check the theory and see if it was correct”, he explained, standing up from the chair. “I didn’t really want to ask T’Challa anything about the vibranium structure because I like figuring out things by myself, but the fact that you came to that conclusion right after me proves something very interesting, kid”, he said, gesturing at Peter’s general direction with a pencil.

“What is it?”, he asked, blinking at Tony several times.

“That I’m amazing at picking apprentices”, he said with another smug smile, gesturing at himself. “And my ability to make character judgements remains spectacular”.

It was Peter’s turn to roll his eyes at Tony, but there was still a smile on his lips as he did so. He followed Tony as he walked all over the workshop, gathering different equipment and finally heading to the vibranium container, which was sat at the farthest desk into the workshop.

“So what do you say, kid?”, Tony finally turned to look at Peter, handing him a pair of goggles and putting another pair on himself. “Ready to start working on your suit?”

Peter’s smile widened.

 

 

 

“Boss, Happy is on the line”, Friday’s voice resonated across the room.

“Tell him I’m busy”, Tony said over his shoulder, not shifting from his uncomfortably hunched position over his working desk. As he read over a meticulously detailed chart, Peter swung from the ceiling in the middle of the workshop, hanging upside down from one of his webs as he read an article that Tony had lent him.

“He’s being very insistent”, Friday argued, and Tony huffed out an annoyed breath.

“I’ll call him later”, he said, just a little bit too breathless, standing up and walking over to his computer. As if Friday hadn’t said anything in the first place, Tony shouted over to Peter: “Hey, kid, I think I figured it out. You ready to try the suit again?”

Peter looked up from the paper he was reading and lowered himself to the floor, falling on his feet with precision and immediately hurrying to where Tony was sitting. Tony gave him a sideway glance and a raise of eyebrow.

“Do you do that only because you look more like a spider or is it actually comfortable?”, he asked, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

“It’s actually really comfortable”, Peter admitted, standing awkwardly beside Tony while the man finished reading whatever he was reading. “And it kind of helps me concentrate better”.

“That sounds like bull, but I’ll let it pass”, Tony shrugged, turning off the computer’s screen and turning to look at Peter. “Ok, go grab the suit. You remember where it is, right?”

“Yeah”, Peter said, turning back and walking over to where he had left the suit after the last time he had tried it on. The suit was nearly functional after all the months of work they had put into it, but it still wasn’t 100%. Neither Peter nor Tony seemed to be able to figure out how to make the suit absorb the kinetic energy and re-distribute it, rather than _just_ absorb it. Their previous attempts at making it work had been fruitless, and while Peter hadn’t exactly given up on finding a solution, he was also not giving all he could give to solve the problem.

The truth was that, spending time with Tony Stark in the man’s personal workshop and _learning stuff_ from him was probably the highlight of Peter’s life, even if compared to being Spider-Man. Surely, he loved fighting crime and keeping people safe and happy, but now he had the chance to be Tony Stark’s _ward_. He worked with _Iron Man_. On a weekly basis! His ten-year-old self would be incredibly excited if he knew that.

Peter tried to play it cool most of the time, not being extremely informal as if not to force some kind of intimacy he didn’t have with Tony yet, but also not being extremely polite as if not to make their interactions stiff and forced. Tony seemed to be comfortable with his presence, even if he constantly rolled his eyes or complained about Peter’s age and mannerisms. Peter was thriving to be working with his idol, but he tried his best not to freak out too much near Tony out of fear that he’d end up screwing everything up.

He just really, _really_ enjoyed his life on that moment. Being Spider-Man, working with and learning from Tony… It was as if things couldn’t get any better. Personally, Peter felt as if this was the universe’s retribution for all he had suffered just a year prior. Uncle Ben’s loss still sat heavy in his chest, and the memory of him left a sourness on Peter’s throat and tears prickling at his eyes. Sometimes, he could still see how miserable May was, when she thought Peter wasn’t looking, and, to him, this was the worst part.

But things were starting to get better, not just because of Spider-Man or of working with Tony, but because Tony had started to actually _pay him_ , as if he considered Peter going over to his workshop to read books while dangling upside-down from the ceiling as some sort of _internship_. Peter had refused the money at first, and continued to do so for weeks until Tony pointed out that the boy only seemed to have about four different shirts and he barely had the conditions to buy himself lunch before showing up at the workshop. After a long talk that was dreaded equally by both Peter _and_ Tony, Peter finally accepted that the billionaire payed him at least a small quantity of money, if only to help May with the house expenses. Peter was glad that, at least, he could help her now.

He grabbed the suit and brought it to Tony, who had gone back to crouching up in an uncomfortable position in front of his charts. He had also turned on the Holotable, Peter could see, but the data that was displayed there was nothing new to him. Tony didn’t seem to notice Peter was back and kept his eyes focused on the charts, clutching his left arm close to himself as if it hurt. There was a thin layer of sweat making his forehead glisten, which made Peter frown. The temperature inside the workshop was very pleasant.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?”, Peter called after he stood there for several moments and received no word or acknowledgement from Tony. The man seemed to startle, as if he had no idea Peter was supposed to be there. “Are you ok?”, Peter frowned, trying to mask the concern in his voice and failing to do so. Tony stared up at him for a split second with an unreadable expression on his face before nodding and waving a dismissal with his hand. He stood up, apparently steady, but Peter continued to stare at him, suit in hands.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it”, he said, pointing at a close by mug. “Also, don’t drink from that. You’ll regret it”.

Peter frowned, eyes darting from the mug to the pale Tony, who promptly snatched the suit from Peter’s hands and turned his back on him so he could walk over to the Holotable. Peter followed him, but the frown of worry decorating his brow didn’t disappear.

“I think it would be better if you sat down for a bit?”, Peter suggested, hesitant. Tony rolled his eyes and huffed out an annoyed breath. “You’re looking a little… queasy”, he added tentatively.

“I said I’m fine, kid. Don’t break a sweat”, he said, his tone final. Peter stayed silent, even though he could tell there was something wrong. “So, let’s see”, Tony said, placing the suit on the top of the Holotable and waiting for a few moments while the device scanned it. In less than a minute, the holographic version of the suit was displayed to them, and Tony zoomed in on several specific parts that he wanted to take a better look at, all the while humming to himself. Peter tried to listen to what he was saying, but it was all uncommonly unintelligible. Usually, he would share his ideas with Peter out loud in order to teach Peter new things, but at that moment, it felt like he was trying to finish everything he needed as soon as he could so that he could leave the workshop. Eventually, he closed the Holotable with a simple gesture – Peter definitely needed to train more if he really wanted to reach Tony’s level of proficiency with that table – before picking the suit up and handing it over to DUM-E, who was waiting nearby. “Friday, add nanites to the vibranium structure of the suit”, he said to thin air.

“Right away, boss”, Friday promptly replied.

“And make sure you paint it red and blue like the original one”, Tony added, walking over to his chair and sitting down a bit too heavily for Peter’s liking. “The kid likes his American colors”.

“On it”, Friday responded. Peter watched the interaction with wide eyes before finally turning to Tony, who was touching the tip of his fingers to his forehead and had closed his eyes.

“ _Nanites_?”, Peter asked, sounding way too much like an overexcited puppy. Tony’s weird behavior went forgotten as Peter tried to image all the possibilities that could give him. “Is this for real, Mr. Stark? I’m getting a suit with vibranium _and_ nanites?”

“Yeah”, Tony waved a hand at him, eyes still closed. He looked a bit annoyed, but Peter was so excited by the prospect of having nanites in his _vibranium_ suit that he didn’t put much thought into it. After all, it wasn’t rare for Tony to act annoyed around him. “Don’t be so enthusiastic about it. The main goal of the suit is to make sure you won’t get killed by one of your zoo-themed villains”.

“But still!”, Peter exclaimed, taking a step closer to Tony and not quite sure of what to do with his hands. “It’s made of vibranium! This is so cool! Really, Mr. Stark, I don’t even know how to thank you for everything that –”

“Kid”, Tony interrupted, tone serious and somber. Peter’s smile immediately died on his lips and he went still, watching Tony closely. Something was definitely wrong – Tony was condescending, but he had never been downright rude to him before. Was the problem Peter, or something with Tony himself? “Do me a favor and grab me my phone, ok?”, he instructed, voice a bit too shaky.

Peter hesitated for a second, not sure of what to do or where to go, before finally turning on his heels and reaching for Tony’s phone, which was lying on the desk beside the charts he had been analyzing. Before Peter could take a hold of the device, however, he heard a thumping sound and turned to see that Tony had fallen off his chair and was lying on his side on the floor, a hand clutching his chest tightly. His face looked as pale as Peter had ever seen it and his glasses had cracked from the impact with the floor. Phone immediately forgotten, Peter rushed back to Tony’s side, heart beating madly inside his chest.

“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark, what’s wrong?”, he asked frantically, kneeling beside Tony and turning him so that he would be lying on his back. Tony had a pained expression on but his eyes were wide with what Peter recognized as fear. He was breathing heavily, with a level of difficulty, and he grasped the front of Peter’s shirt tightly as if to anchor himself to reality. “What do I do? How can I help? What’s going on? Mr. Stark?”, Peter couldn’t help but to ask, aware that flooding Tony with a lot of questions at once wouldn’t exactly do anything to help. Tony squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and all Peter could see was Uncle Ben, clutching his shirt in a very similar way to Tony and _dying on his arms_. Tears of fear raised to Peter’s eyes as he held Tony, not understanding what was happening and desperate to help. Tony looked like he wanted to answer but couldn’t. Then, a sudden idea appeared in Peter’s mind. “Friday!”, he called out, pulling Tony so that his head wouldn’t be lying on the cold floor. “Friday, what’s going on? What do I do?”

“It appears boss is having a heart attack”, Friday responded, a bit too frantically to Peter’s liking. “He needs medical attention, now!”

“Oh god”, Peter muttered under his breath, hands shaking and fidgeting as he tried to figure out what to do. “Oh god, oh god, oh god, what do I do?”, he muttered, turning his head towards the ceiling. “Friday, what do I do?”, he shouted. Tony continued to gasp and writher beneath Peter, eyes unfocused and face contorted in pain. His lips were white and parted as he tried to breathe but failed, and to Peter’s horror, his expression began to soften, as if he was relaxing. Peter had no sort of medical training, but he knew that couldn’t be a good sign, especially because of the way that Tony’s hand grasping his shirt became slack and fell limply on the top of his chest. His eyes looked glassy and lost, staring at nothing in particular, but the fear and the silent call for help in them was still evident, somehow.

“I already called an ambulance, but it won’t get here in time”, Friday said. “You’ll have to take him to a hospital!”

“Oh god, oh god”, Peter said, frantically getting to his feet and looking around the room in despair. “Oh, god, oh god, Mr. Stark, I’m going to lift you up now, ok? It’s going to be ok”, he said, picking Tony up bridal-style with no effort and running out of the workshop. “It’s going to be ok, I’ve got you”.

Tony’s response was nothing other than a pained grunt, and it looked like he was trying to wrap his fingers on Peter’s shirt again, but failing to do so. Peter held him closer to his chest and didn’t bother to wait for the elevator to arrive, climbing the stairs instead. As soon as he was on the first floor and out on the street, he shot out a web to the top of the closest building and yanked himself up in the air, not caring that he didn’t have his Spider-Man suit on and that everyone could see his face. He held Tony very tightly as he swung across streets and blocks, sparing the man quick glances to see if he was still awake every now and then.

“Hang on, Mr. Stark”, Peter said, voice tight by the knot in his throat. He had failed to save Uncle Ben before, but he wouldn’t fail to save Tony. “Hang on, we’re almost there, ok? Stay awake”, he said, when Tony’s eyes began to droop. “Please, Mr. Stark, stay awake, we’re almost there, I’ve got you”.

Tony desperately tried to listen to the kid and keep his eyes open, because this wasn’t _fair_ to Peter. As much as Tony pretended not to care, he knew how hard of a blow his uncle’s death had been on Peter, and how traumatic it probably was to revive it all again. Tony wasn’t an idiot – he knew how much the kid admired him. The last thing he wanted was to put the kid on a situation like this, but it wasn’t exactly his fault his heart had decided to give out.

Ok, maybe it was. Maybe he shouldn’t kept mixing alcohol with coffee, or missing days of sleep in a row, or overworking himself. But how could he possibly rest until he knew that Peter had a suit strong enough to keep him safe?

The kid’s pleadings began to fade away into background noise as dizziness overcame Tony and he allowed his eyes to slip close. Deep down, he felt a twinging of guilt and remorse in his chest for letting the kid down so easily, after all the trust Peter had put in him; but it also could have been just his heart finally halting.

 

 

 

The click-click-click of Pepper’s high heels echoed across the hospital as she marched down the hall, headed towards where she could see Happy crouched over a seat on the waiting room. There was a cup of coffee on his hands, but he was simply fidgeting with it, rather than drinking from it. He looked tired and worn out, a little bit older than when Pepper had last seen him, and his eyes were fixed on the white wall in front of him as he stared blankly at it. It was only when she finally stopped beside him that he turned his head and acknowledged her presence, not having paid any attention on the clicking of her shoes before. He stood up, and if his face looked the slightest bit more relieved by her presence there, she didn’t comment on it.

“I’m sorry, I came as soon as you called me”, she said, enveloping Happy in a quick embrace. “But I was in Hong Kong, so it took a while”.

“It’s ok”, Happy nodded, letting go of her and throwing his cup of coffee, which was still full, on the bin next to his chair. Upon Pepper’s confused look, he supplied with a shrug: “It tasted like bitter bean water”.

“How is he, Happy?”, Pepper asked, sitting on the closest chair at the waiting room. Happy followed her and sat down as well, sighing heavily.

“Stable, for now”, Happy informed her. “The doctors said he was very close this time. He’s asleep, but we can see him in the morning”.

“Jesus”, she shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. “What _happened_?”, she asked helplessly.

“I don’t know”, Happy shrugged again. “I spent the whole afternoon trying to contact him, but Friday kept telling me off, saying he was busy. I was about to stop by at the workshop when she called me to let me know what happened. Apparently, he had a heart attack out of nowhere. But we both know what must have caused it”.

“He’s been overworking again”, Pepper said, and it wasn’t a question. She turned her head away from Happy, sighing in disappointment, and for the first time since she arrived, caught sight of the sleeping figure curled on the darkest corner of the room. “Who’s that?”, Pepper frowned, not recognizing the boy, who was lying on a fetal position and occupying two chairs, curled on himself and covered by what seemed to be Happy’s jacket. Despite of the jacket covering his torso, he still looked cold.

“Oh, that’s Tony’s kid”, Happy said dismissively, not even bothering to turn to look at Peter’s sleeping form. Pepper’s eyes widened and she snapped her head back to look at Happy, who, in his turn, looked as nonchalant as ever.

“That’s Tony’s _what_?”, Pepper asked, tone too high-pitched for her liking. Happy finally turned to look at her, and noticing the completely dumbfounded look on her face, realized the double meaning of his words.

“Oh, no, no, no”, he corrected, raising a calming hand to Pepper. “Not like that. He’s _the_ kid. You know? The one with the spider powers?”

 “Oh, so that’s _Peter_?”, Pepper asked, turning her head again to look at the sleeping boy. She couldn’t exactly see his face properly, not just from the darkness of the room, but also from the way Happy’s jacket was hiding half of it away from view. It was way past midnight, and the only source of light in the hospital’s waiting room was a muted TV in the farthest corner away from Peter. Pepper hadn’t really gotten the chance to meet the kid Tony and Happy talked so much about, but she had expected him to be a lot younger, from the protectiveness and fondness in Tony’s tone whenever he mentioned him.

“The one and only”, Happy said, unimpressed. “He just fell asleep. Though I think the most appropriate term would be ‘passed out from exhaustion’. He was the one who saved Tony’s life today”.

Pepper stopped looking at Peter to turn back to Happy, eyeing him with a quizzical look.

“I wish I didn’t have to meet him like this”, she admitted. “In a hospital waiting room, in the middle of the night… He’s special to Tony”.

“Yeah”, Happy said simply.

A comfortable silence fell between them, and whereas Happy stared up at the muted screen of the TV without really paying attention to whatever program was on, Pepper stared off at the distance for a while before finally fishing her phone out of her purse and answering some e-mails. Even though she managed to answer most of her inbox, she couldn’t concentrate enough on the task at her hands and soon gave up, leaving the most important e-mails for when she was more level-headed. To think that Tony could have ended up dying alone in his workshop, to think that she wouldn’t have heard about it until he was lying cold and dead on a table… To think that she had been in Hong Kong, all the way across the world, while Tony’s heart stopped. The thought troubled her, and apparently had the same effect on Happy, who looked more serious than usual.

A few hours passed and Pepper tried to take a nap on the uncomfortable chair, since her whole flight to New York had been very stressful and tiring, but she didn’t have it in her to simply close her eyes and fall asleep. Going back to her apartment in NY wasn’t an option, either, since she knew she would end up getting even more stressed if she wasn’t near Tony when he first woke up. He really deserved the scolding she was going to give him for doing that to himself. Happy, on the other hand, had probably been in the waiting room of the hospital for so long that he ended up dozing off after the first hour since Pepper’s arrival, head tilting to the side and snoring softly. Pepper tried to follow him but couldn’t keep her eyes closed for more than a minute, always ending up looking around the dark room as if awaiting for sudden news on Tony’s condition. She was about to fish her phone out of her purse to finish replying to those e-mails again when a soft, lost voice called her attention.

“Happy?”, Peter asked, voice hoarse and confused from sleep, and Pepper turned on her seat to see the boy’s head peeking up, hair ruffled and eyes small. Not wanting to wake Happy up – the man looked like he needed the rest –, Pepper stood up from her seat and walked over to Peter, who looked at her with even more confusion in his eyes. She smiled softly at him, even though she didn’t really feel like smiling, and took the seat closest to the boy as he struggled to sit up and rubbed his eyes.

“He just fell asleep, and I don’t think we should wake him up just yet”, Pepper informed him. The boy yawned and finally realized there was a jacket on the top of him, eyeing it with something akin to disbelief. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Pepper”, she introduced herself. Peter immediately stopped staring at the jacket in awe, as if he didn’t believe that Happy would actually lend it to him, and turned to face Pepper with wide, surprised eyes.

“Oh”, he said, clearly at a loss for words. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to figure out what to say, which made him look like a fish. “Oh, you’re – oh. Right. That makes sense. I’m – well. I’m, I’m Peter”, he said, outstretching a hand towards her politely. “Peter Parker”, he added, as if she needed the extra information. Pepper took the hand with a soft smile and shook it firmly. Peter retrieved his own hand and kept staring at it for a few moments before blinking several times and looking back up at the woman. “I’m, uh. How, how is Mr. Stark?”

“He is stable”, Pepper said, finding it a bit odd that Peter referred to Tony as Mr. Stark but deciding not to comment on it. From the way Tony spoke about the kid, she had assumed they were very close, and yet Peter still called Tony by formal titles for some reason. “He is asleep now, but we will be able to see him in the morning”.

“Good”, Peter nodded solemnly, looking like he was trying his best to be polite, despite of his obvious concern. “That’s, uh, that’s very good”.

Pepper noticed something about Peter’s expression; the way he wasn’t really meeting her eyes for longer than necessary, and the way he sat stiff and rigid on his seat, almost as if he was afraid to touch her. There was some sort of melancholy in his eyes, almost verging on guilt, that called her attention, and the fact that a person so young could seem to bear so much weight on their shoulders made her feel an inevitable fondness for this boy. She could see why Tony liked him and she hadn’t even spent more than five minutes talking to Peter.

“Happy told me you saved his life”, she commented, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen between them. Peter, who had been staring off at the distance, turned his head to look at her, looking confused for a second before realization filled his face. He shook his head, almost humbly, and a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes blossomed on his lips.

“No, I mean, I just brought him to the nearest hospital”, he shrugged. “It was the least I could do, after everything he’s done for me”.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be very thankful that you did”, Pepper said. “So am I”.

Peter looked at her – for once, it seemed that he _really_ looked – and he seemed to study her face for a while, trying to figure out the meaning behind her words. She stared back at him, trying to look encouraging. She didn’t know a lot about this kid – she hadn’t even know what he looked like until he woke up –, but she could tell that Tony was as important to him as he was important to Tony. She wasn’t really sure he knew that, though, since Tony wasn’t exactly the best person in the world when it came to talking about emotions. Give him a machine and he’ll change the world with it, reading it as easily as if it was the alphabet, but give him complicated emotions and Tony Stark just… froze. Pepper was used to this trait of Tony’s; after all, she worked for him for years before he finally showed any sort of affection towards her. But she could bet a lot of money that Peter had no idea of his importance to Tony, since the boy seemed to be about as emotionally constipated as him. In fact, now that Pepper analyzed him better, he looked almost _guilty_. Which was a completely unjustified feeling, since without Peter, Tony would probably have ended up dead.

“He cares about you a lot, you know”, Pepper decided to say, even though it wasn’t her place to talk about Tony’s personal feelings. She knew that Tony would never find the courage to actually say the words, though, and the kid looked like he needed to hear them. “He never stops talking about you”.

Peter blinked several times and frowned in confusion.

“W-what? I mean, really?”, he asked, not managing to keep a disbelieving frown from his face.

“Yes”, Pepper nodded. “Tony is… complicated. He has a lot of issues when it comes to emotions, and he will probably never admit what I just told you out loud, so since he is incapable of saying it, I’ll say it for him. He cares about you”.

“I… Well, I…”, Peter stuttered, at a loss for words once again, but Pepper clicked her tongue.

“You don’t have to say anything”, she reassured him. “You just looked like you needed to know”.

Peter continued to stare up at her, eyes full of silent gratitude. He swallowed dry and nodded his head, blinking and staring blankly at his own knees. A few silent moments passed before he finally spoke up.

“Thank you”, he said, voice very small in the swallowing silence of the waiting room. “For letting me know”.

“Thank _you_ for saving his life”, Pepper said, offering a small lopsided smile. “And, between you and me, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you called him _Tony_ every now and then. He might actually like it”, she gave Peter a tiny shrug without turning to look at him.

Peter stared at her for a long while, trying to figure out whether she was joking or not. Pepper fished her phone out of her purse and went back to answering her e-mails, trying to distract herself from her own feelings of worry and not averting her eyes back to Peter.

 

 

 

When Tony woke up, he felt like a two-story bus had tap-danced on his chest before running him over fifty times in a row. He groaned, despite of himself, struggling to open his eyes and feeling like he desperately needed a glass of water and an aspirin for his pounding head. After what felt like hours of fruitless attempts –which, actually, could have been; he felt like his brain kept drifting off despite of his best efforts –, he finally managed to part his lids, at first squinting at the brightness of the room, but finally managing to focus his vision enough to assess his surroundings.

The last thing he had expected to see was a sleeping Peter and an angry-looking Pepper staring down at him by his bedside.

“Hey, babe”, Tony said in a croaked and small voice, but somehow managed to put whatever sarcasm he could in his tone. Even though he was happy to see her – they barely even saw each other anymore; Tony had to fix that – he could tell, from her face, that a scolding was coming. Pepper knew better than to fall for Tony’s provocations.

“You’re not doing that”, she said simply, shaking her head in a barely perceptible way. She looked like it was taking all of her self-control to keep from shouting at him in the middle of a hospital. “ _We’re_ not doing that. You could have died”.

“What happened?”, Tony groaned, trying to prop himself into a sitting position and immediately changing his mind when his whole body protested from the effort. Pepper snapped a disbelieving glare at him, allowing her mouth to hang open wordlessly for several seconds before replying, her tone suggesting that Tony was an absolute moron.

“You had a _heart attack_ , Tony”, she said, trying – and failing – to keep her voice down. There was a mixture of pain and anger in her voice as she spoke the words, as if she wasn’t sure whether she should hug Tony or scold him. She didn’t notice the way Peter stirred on the chair he was sprawled on. “I flew all the way from my conference in Hong Kong as soon as Happy phoned to tell me that you were in the hospital after going into _full cardiac arrest_ ”, she said. There were tears glistening in her eyes, but they looked like they were more out of anger than anything. “How could you do this? Didn’t the hundred self-preservation talks we had have _any_ effect on you?”

“Pepper”, Tony tried to calm her down, noticing how riled up she was getting. Pepper looked pale and her eyes were getting red rimmed, almost resembling the way she had looked ten years before, when she picked Tony up at the airport from his captivity in Afghanistan. He drowned down the memory before it could overwhelm him, because Pepper having a breakdown was already bad enough, and the last thing she needed was for Tony to have one as well. However, his call went unheard by her, who continued to shake her head in disbelief and disapproval.

“You can’t keep doing this, Tony”, she said, managing to keep her voice from trembling. Tony always found amazing the way Pepper could keep control of herself and exert authority, even when she was on the brink of losing her cool. “Not to me, not to Happy, not to Peter, not to the people that care about you. I know you will keep jumping into danger whenever you think you need to save the world, no matter what I say, but you can’t do _that_ if you kill yourself first”.

“I wasn’t trying to, Pep, I –“, Tony tried to say, but Pepper cut him off before he could continue.

“Wasn’t _trying_ to?! Is that what drinking scotch mixed with coffee and losing days of sleep in a row is? Or do you really think Friday wouldn’t tell me about what you’ve been up to recently?”, she accused.

“Well, technically, she shouldn’t; did you bypass her protocol?”, he raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not the _point_ , Tony! And I didn’t bypass her protocol, she’s programmed to give off any information that could save your life in case you’re in danger, which is exactly what happened –“

“Ok, maybe I shouldn’t have drank so much coffee, but you can’t really blame a man with a heart condition for having a heart attack, it’s not like I _wanted_ to –“

“Really? No, _really_? I honestly can’t believe you’re saying this”, she said, sounding hurt. “And I can’t deal with you when you’re like this”.

“When I’m like what? In a hospital bed?”, Tony asked sarcastically.

“When you’re using _sarcasm_ to act like you’re not wrong, even though you know you are!”

“How am I _wrong_ for almost dying? You were the one who said it”.

“God, you’re such a child”, she said, finally letting out a breath that was too shaky for her liking. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her composure, before speaking up again in a more steady voice. “I’m not doing this with you right now. I just got back from an exhausting business trip because you can’t take care of yourself without someone babysitting you, and I’m not being paid to be your babysitter. Stay in bed and, for the love of god, don’t do anything stupid. _Again._ You need to rest and think about the people who care about you”, she blurted out. Before Tony could think of something clever to respond, Pepper picked up her purse and marched out of the room, not looking back.

The silence that fell as soon as the door closed behind Pepper was embarrassing, especially because Tony knew that Peter was awake and had witnessed the whole thing. He waited for a few moments to see if the kid would say anything, and when he didn’t, Tony spoke up.

“Don’t worry. She’s coming back”. The words sounded like Tony was trying to convince himself, rather than Peter.

“I’m not sure she’s the one I’m worried about, Mr. Stark”, Peter admitted, leaning forwards on his chair while rubbing his eyes. The kid looked almost as pale as Pepper and his eyes were definitely more red-rimmed. Tony assumed it was because Pepper was already used to his antics, even though his lack of self-preservation upset her, whereas Peter wasn’t. He tried to give Tony a small smile, but for some reason, it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“No need to be cheesy”, Tony sighed, staring up at the ceiling. He wished he could sit up, rather than lie down, but was too proud to ask the kid to help him. “I’m ok”.

“But Pepper wasn’t wrong, though”, Peter insisted, much to Tony’s dismay. Really, he was going to receive a lecture from the _kid_? He had truly hit rock bottom. “You really should take better care of yourself”.

“Says the guy who jumps into any and all danger that appears before him without thinking about it first”, Tony scoffed. “Also, _Pepper_? You knew her for what, a few hours, and you guys are already on the first-name base?”, he raised an eyebrow. He missed the way a small blush appeared on Peter’s cheeks.

“Well, it’s been a little bit more than a few hours”, Peter admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed. He nervously itched at the back of his neck. “You really scared us, sir. Mr. Rhodes stopped by earlier, but he had to leave, because in his words he ‘couldn’t whoop you while you were unconscious’. I’m, I am just repeating what he said”, Peter raised his hands in a nervous gesture, worried about overstepping a line with Tony. Tony, however, laughed out loud at the comment, because yeah, those were definitely Rhodes’ words.

“How long has it been?”, he asked after a few silent moments, still not looking at Peter.

“Uh, I brought you in yesterday afternoon, and now it’s…”, he took a look at the watch hanging on the wall, “half past ten in the evening. So yeah, a bit more than one day”.

“ _You_ brought me in?”, Tony raised an eyebrow. He could vaguely recall what had happened – mostly the pain, and flashes of incomprehensible images. A crying, worried Peter seemed to be a somewhat vivid memory in his mind, but he couldn’t remember how he had gotten to the hospital or what had happened before the pain started.

“Well, if I had waited for the ambulance to arrive… I…”, Peter trailed off, sounding uncomfortable. Tony finally turned his head to look at the boy, whose expression seemed to be very troubled. “It was serious, Mr. Stark”, Peter said, lifting his head to look at Tony with a sorrowful expression. “You really could have… You really could have died”.

Tony knew that Pepper wasn’t one to make exaggerations or overstatements, but to hear the words coming from Peter really took a different toll on him. Pepper was constantly worrying about Tony and trying to take care of him; it had been her job to do so when Tony first hired her years and years before. He was used to her lectures, and her scolding whenever he messed up – which, not that he would ever admit it in front of her, was very recurrent –, but even though he knew, deep down, that she had all the right in the world to be mad and disappointed in him for not taking care of himself properly, he was _used_ to it. But Peter being worried about him was a completely different situation.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Pepper’s feelings or ignored her concern over him – far from that. Pepper was one of the people Tony respected the most in the world, if not the one person who he respected the most, but he knew her for over a decade. He loved her, and for most part of their relationship, they had seen each other on a daily basis. As much as she knew how to deal with Tony’s behavior most of the time, Tony also knew how to deal with hers. He knew that she had stormed out of the hospital room not because she didn’t care about him, or because she didn’t want to talk to him anymore. She had stormed out because she needed time, not only to recover from the shock and pain of almost losing Tony again, but also because she was probably tired and needed personal space to regain her energies and clear her mind. Tony was well aware that he could be a handful to deal with, especially when in a hospital. His apparently arrogant and self-entitled persona didn’t exactly work well when he was injured or in a hospital, where he depended on other people and couldn’t do anything by himself. Being stuck in a bed made him worst to deal with than usual, and Pepper knew that, which was why she left. Tony knew that their conversation wasn’t over, and Pepper knew that talking about that sensible subject while Tony was stuck in a hospital bed would be useless. They understood each other without really having to say the words; they read each other like books, which was precisely the reason why Tony could deal with her. But Peter? Peter was like a whole new chapter on a book that Tony wasn’t even half-way through. Peter was _different_.

Tony could more-or-less figure out the kid’s intentions, and feelings, and wishes. He knew Peter saw him as a father figure. He knew Peter was constantly trying to prove himself to him. He knew Peter admired him and looked up to him, which was something that really, really scared Tony, because he shouldn’t. Peter shouldn’t want to be _like_ Tony, he should want to be better. He had the potential to be better, which was why he had invited Peter to be his apprentice in the first place. Tony had been considered a child prodigy ever since he was accepted into MIT, and yet, Peter had come to the exact same realization about the vibranium as him with the short difference of a few days. The kid had so much talent that Tony would be committing a crime if he didn’t invest on it. Not only because Peter could get far in life, but also because Tony cared about him. A lot.

That was exactly the problem between them. Tony couldn’t let Peter know he cared about him. People who Tony cared about, people who cared _about_ Tony – those people got hurt. He still had nightmares about Pepper falling to her death, just a millimeter away from his grasp, but in his dreams, she didn’t survive. He still dreamt about Rhodes falling, and breaking his skull instead of his spine, and Tony not being able to do anything to help him. He still dreamt about Steve burying his shield – his father’s shield – in his chest, and about Obie removing his arc reactor and leaving him to die. When the people who cared about Tony didn’t get hurt, the people who Tony cared about hurt _him_. And for him, having the kid hurt because of him, or being hurt _by_ the kid, was just too painful to accept. Tony wasn’t sure he could deal with something like that; not when he cared for Peter like a son.

Being cold and not talking about his feelings with Peter had worked well so far, but how could it possibly be fair to Peter to keep him comfortless and suffering when he was so clearly worried about Tony? Acting nonchalant around Peter when Tony was the one worried was easy, because suppressing his feelings was something he learned to do very well from a very early age ( _Stark men are made of iron_ ). When Peter had been hurt before, Tony had almost lost his shit, but he had always managed to keep it cool in front of the kid. But now, when he was the one hurt, when _Peter_ was the one worrying, how could Tony stay silent? Could he really neglect Peter the comfort he so obviously needed? And, in case he couldn’t, would he ever be able to reassure Peter in the way the boy would want to be reassured?

Tony wasn’t good with this. The reason why loved Pepper so much, and why he got along so well with Rhodes and Happy, was because they _knew_. Tony didn’t have to say or do anything for them to know that they meant the world for him. They could read, from a simple pat on the back to a sarcastic comment, the unspoken emotions Tony wanted to convey. They knew, without him having to say it out loud, how deeply Tony cared about them. And even though Pepper was the only person Tony ever bothered to admit his feelings to out loud, not only because she deserved to hear it every day, but also because she was one of the only people he trusted with his life, Tony also knew that she could read his feeling in between the lines. He screwed up, and he made her worry, but she knew how much Tony cared about her. Peter didn’t.

Tony had no idea how to say it.

He wanted to apologize to the kid for scaring him, he wanted to reassure him that he would be fine, that he would try not to overwork himself too much, that he wouldn’t pull of something like that again, but he couldn’t. Because that was what Tony did. The only thing he was good at, the only thing he could _do_ was work. And the reason why he had lost nights over nights of sleep, was to keep Peter safe. Was to build something that would protect him and ensure that, at the end of the day, he would get home safe. Peter was too much like him, whether he liked it or not. He knew the kid wouldn’t just give up on being Spider-Man when he had the power to protect people from harm. He wouldn’t simply step away, because stepping away was the same as taking responsibility for whatever evil came upon people due to his negligence. Peter would never stop being Spider-Man for the same reason Tony would never stop working: these were both their gifts and their curses. It was a vicious cycle that couldn’t be broken: Peter endangering himself, and Tony working to protect him. He couldn’t just leave his kid to his own devices – if Tony ever lost him, if Peter _died_ when Tony could prevent it, Tony would never, ever live it down. Everything he did was to keep Peter, and the world, safe. It was his responsibility. Tony did it because he could, and if he could, he _had_ to. It was his moral duty, as much as it was Peter’s to be Spider-Man.

He wished he could actually say all these thoughts out-loud; he wished he could explain all this to Peter without sounding cheesy or feeling vulnerable. He wished he could make Peter know, like Pepper and Rhodes and Happy knew. He wished he could teach Peter to read him as well as the others could. He wished he could _show_ him.

Tony tried to pretend that the tears Peter was trying to hide weren’t breaking his heart all over again, and he really, really wished Pepper would return, because she was good with this sort of thing. Last time Peter had been hurt, Tony had wanted Pepper to talk to him, to explain everything and tell Peter how important he was to Tony. But he knew that, even if Pepper had agreed to talk to Peter, it wouldn’t be the same. It would be impersonal, and frankly, extremely awkward. Tony couldn’t just ask someone to talk about his feelings to Peter in his place. But, whenever he thought he was gathering enough courage to squeeze Peter’s shoulders and say “Hey, kid. You’re cool. I really care about you and you’re kind of like a son to me, so maybe try not to get yourself killed because that would break my heart”, Howard’s voice reappeared in his head. _Stark men are made of iron. Stop being such a sissy. Stop crying. Be a man. Real men don’t show their feelings_. He had figured that, after all these years, Howard’s influence on him would have worn off, and yet, he was still being controlled by his father, even if from the grave.

The silence in the hospital room was verging on awkward now, and even though Peter had managed to hold back his tears, Tony could still see how upset he was. His heart was begging him to say something, _anything_ , if only he could find the right words.

“It’s ok, Pete”, Tony ended up blurting out, immediately feeling like sinking into the hospital’s mattress but managing to keep his usual confident façade. He could only hope that Peter understood the deep meaning behind the words. He didn’t break eye contact with the kid, who was staring at him with an unreadable look. “Look, it’s ok”, Tony encouraged him with a nod, reaching out and grabbing one of Peter’s hands in order to squeeze it reassuringly. Peter stared at his hand, and then at Tony, as if the gesture meant the world to him.

“It’s just… it’s…”, he tried to say, but he seemed to be as lost for words as Tony. Tony let out a breath and nodded, trying to show Peter he understood.

“I know, kid”, Tony said, trying his best to sound as sincere as possible. Peter wasn’t crying, but he looked like he could snap as soon as Tony said the wrong word. And, after all, Tony knew that one of the reasons why Peter was so upset was because the whole Tony-almost-dying event had probably reminded him of his uncle’s death. Tony had only read the basics on that sensitive subject, but he knew that Peter blamed himself for what had happened and that his uncle’s death had taken a great toll on him and his aunt. Peter clearly had trouble talking about the subject, and if Tony was being honest, he would rather the boy didn’t. Tears were threatening to pool on Tony’s own eyes as well, and he could deal with reassuring Peter and trying to comfort him, but crying in front of him was a whole new level that he wasn’t ready for yet. “I’m sorry”, Tony added, hoping it would help the boy. “You don’t have to say anything. I _know_ , and I’m sorry for putting you in this position”.

Peter nodded several times, biting his lower lip and so clearly trying not to cry that Tony thought he looked more like a kid than ever. He looked so young and lost that Tony wanted to hug him, because Peter was usually so cheery and well-humored and just _jovial_ that seeing him carry the weight of such a loss on his shoulders felt _wrong_. This was why Tony, putting his pride aside for once, let go of Peter’s hand and outstretched his arms to the side the best he could without pulling the IV taped to his hand. Peter stared at him in confusion, which made Tony roll his eyes. The boy really wanted him to spell things out, right?

“Remember when I told you we weren’t in hugging terms yet?”, Tony sighed. “We’re in hugging terms, now. C’mon kid, don’t leave me hanging”, he added when the boy didn’t move. Peter blinked at him in surprise for a moment before carefully adjusting himself on his chair and enveloping Tony in a hug the best way he could with the man lying down. Tony allowed his arms to close around Peter and tapped his back lightly, unwilling to admit, not even to himself, that hugging Peter felt nice.

“Thank you, Tony”, Peter said, voice muffled by Tony’s shoulder. The billionaire’s heart grew warm and full upon hearing Peter finally call him by his first name, and if he had successfully managed to hold back tears before, he certainly failed to do so now. He was only thankful that the kid was still hugging him and couldn’t see the way his eyes glistened, which gave him time to blink the tears away and recompose himself before breaking the hug.

“Ok, we’ll have time for more hugs later”, he groaned, tapping Peter’s back and adjusting himself on the bed. Peter sat back on his chair, looking just the right mixture of embarrassed and happy. He sniffed, not quite knowing what to do with his hands. “How long before I can get out of this bed and go home?”, Tony asked, wanting to break the tension and change the subject.

“Uh, I don’t know”, Peter admitted, itching the back of his neck again. “The doctors didn’t really speak to me, only to Pepper and Happy. Do you want me to call him in, by the way? I think he’s still outside”.

“He’s probably driving Pepper home”, Tony acknowledged, shrugging. “She wouldn’t have stayed here after that”.

“Oh, about that…”, Peter said, looking curious, but hesitant. He leaned forwards on his chair, lowering his voice. “What _was_ that? I mean, is that… normal? Between you guys?”

“Take it easy, spiderling”, Tony rolled his eyes. “But yeah, it’s… common. You don’t have to worry about it. She’ll come back later; I’ll apologize to her, etc. We’ll be fine”, he waved a dismissive hand. Peter still looked amused, and Tony tried to mask the fatherly affection he felt for the boy with another eye roll. “You’re just excited because you got to see someone dissing me”, he accused.

“No!”, Peter immediately denied, but from the way he was laughing, Tony knew it wasn’t true. “No, of course not, Mr. Stark”, he chuckled.

“I thought we were past the surname thing, Spider-Boy”, Tony sighed, giving Peter a lopsided smile. Before Peter could respond, there was a knock on the door and a nurse entered, greeting Tony and checking his vitals and charts. She asked him a few questions about how he was feeling and about his heart history, to which he promptly replied with just a small amount of sarcasm, and Peter watched silently from where he was sitting. After that, the nurse began to fiddle with all the machines attached to him and with his IV, and Tony didn’t even realize how tired he was feeling until a comfortable silence fell on the room. He couldn’t tell if the nurse had sedated him or if he was just overcome by a sudden wave of fatigue, but all of a sudden, keeping his eyes open felt like too much effort. He felt drained. His lids began to droop as the nurse continued to work in silence, and he didn’t have to be a genius to realize that he was about to pass out, the burden of being awake for several days straight and of having his heart stop probably taking its toll on him. He wanted to ask the nurse when he would be released, but his tongue felt heavy in his mouth and the words didn’t feel worthy of his effort.

“I think it’s better if you wait outside, dear”, he could hear the nurse telling Peter in a low voice. “Mr. Stark needs to rest if he wants to be released soon”.

“Oh”, Peter said, sounding taken aback. “Oh, ok, uh, sure”.

“Let him stay if he wants to”, Tony managed to say aloud, words dragged and somewhat slurred by his sleepiness. He felt lightheaded, and on the brink of unconsciousness. “He’s my kid. Just make sure he tells his aunt where he is”.

He didn’t stay awake for long enough to hear Peter’s response, or to even acknowledge if he actually stayed. The darkness enveloped him into a dreamless sleep, for once.

 

 

 

When he woke up next, it wasn’t Pepper’s angry face Tony was faced with, but Rhodes’.

“Hey there, _Tony Stank_ ”, Rhodes said, arms crossed above his chest and a ‘I’m-so-done-with-your-shit’ look on his face. “I hope you’re feeling better”, he added, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

“Thanks, Rhodey”, Tony answered, mimicking his best friend’s sarcasm.

“Yeah. You won’t be so thankful when I kick your irresponsible ass, though”, he took a step closer to the bed. “Really, Tony, what the _hell_ were you thinking? The only reason I’m not giving you a whooping right now is because I know Pepper will kill me in my sleep if I do”.

“Why do I feel like it’s becoming a trend for people to yell at me at my deathbed?”, Tony sighed dramatically.

“Don’t be so dramatic”, Rhodes shook his head. “You’re not dying. Not anymore, at least”.

“Technically, everyone is dying”, Tony argued, just to be petty, because he knew that Rhodes would get pissed off. Said and done, the man squinted his eyes at Tony in disbelief at the billionaire’s audacity. “But if I’m miraculously not, then why are you so riled up?”, he tilted his head to the side in an obnoxious manner.

“Because”, Rhodes said matter-of-factly, as if talking to a child. “We almost lost you. And you scared the hell out of several people”.

Tony sighed, closing his eyes. He didn’t know what he could possibly say to make people understand that he wasn’t intentionally trying to get himself killed.

“I know what you’re gonna say”, Rhodes spoke up before Tony could. “That you weren’t actively trying to die, or some other crappy excuse that I’m not going to buy. The thing is: you _did_ almost die, whether it was your intention or not. So, from now on, you’ll be under supervision”.

“Really?”, Tony raised an incredulous eyebrow at Rhodes. “I thought you had better things to do than babysit me”.

“Oh, I’m not babysitting you”, Rhodes smiled wickedly. “ _He_ is”, he nodded somewhere behind Tony. Turning his head to see who Rhodes was talking about, Tony found Peter hanging upside down from the ceiling from his web, exactly in that weird spider-like way he always liked to dangle when he was reading in the workshop with Tony. He was currently reading a physics book, but once he realized he was being stared at, he looked up.

“What’s up, Mr. Stark?”, Peter asked conversationally. “You feeling better?”

“Peter, get the _hell_ down from there, what are you _doing_ ”, Tony hissed, his eyes widening and his face being overtaken by indignation. What the hell was this kid _thinking_? If anyone walked in and saw him like that, his secret identity would be blown! He tried to sit up, and managed to do so with a lot of effort, but nearly no pain.

“Don’t worry, I locked the door”, Rhodes said, arms still crossed above his chest. “Plus, no one’s coming in. You’re almost good to go”.

“Yeah? Then what are we waiting for?”, he said stubbornly, making to throw his legs out of the bed and stand up. Rhodes finally uncrossed his arms, reaching to grab Tony’s shoulder and stop him from injuring himself.

“Not so fast”, he warned, pushing Tony back against the mattress. “The doctor still needs to give you a final look over before you’re released. I just wanted to give you the merry news before I called her in”.

“Oh, you mean the news about Spider-Kid babysitting me?”, Tony raised another eyebrow. “Yeah, that was a good one”, he scoffed.

“I’m glad you liked it, because I was serious”, Rhodes said, his tone leaving no place for a discussion. “Pepper and Happy agreed. So did Peter. That’s four against one, pal”.

“That’s not really how it _works_ ”, Tony squinted his eyes at his best friend. “Also, if anything, I should be the one babysitting _him_ , since he’s literally hanging from the ceiling by a web. Like a spider. Like _Spider-Man_ ”, he emphasized, pointing at Peter matter-of-factly. “Kid, for god’s sake, get _down_ from there before someone sees you”, Tony added one more time, closing his eyes, breathing heavily, and shaking his head in disapproval. Peter complied, dropping from the web and falling on his feet.

“I said I locked the door”, Rhodes repeated. “Also, Peter seems to be way more responsible than you, since he didn’t mix caffeine with alcohol or overwork himself into a hospital”, he pointed out ironically.

“I’m not going to have this discussion”, Tony shrugged.

“Good. Then it’s settled”, Rhodes said, much to Tony’s annoyance.

“It’s not really babysitting”, Peter pointed out, taking a step closer to Tony’s bed. “I think it’s more of a… mutual help? You watch my back, and I watch yours”, he shrugged.

“We already _do_ that”, Tony protested, rolling his eyes.

“Actually, you’re the one who’s been watching my back”, Peter argued. “I think it’s about time I returned the favor”.

“By doing what, exactly? Tucking me into bed and reading me a story when it’s past curfew?”, Tony raised an eyebrow, words dripping with sarcasm.

“By _helping_ you, Tony”, Rhodes stepped in, tone more serious than before. Tony turned to look at him. “By telling you when it’s time to take a break, and when it’s safe to drink from abandoned mugs in the workshop”.

“So he’ll be my mug supervisor?”, Tony mocked.

“Basically”, Rhodes nodded.

“I actually like that”, Peter nodded as well. “Spider-Man: friend of the neighborhood and mug supervisor”.

“I’m trying really hard not to fire you right now, kid, so maybe hush for a bit”, Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes with impatience.

“You guys will keep doing what you’ve been doing”, Rhodes continued. “Working on suits, doing science together, whatever it is you’ve got going on that workshop. The only difference is that now Peter has full authority to call me, Pepper or Happy whenever you get _dangerously_ stubborn, or when he thinks someone else needs to intervene”.

“We’re just trying to help”, Peter added, apparently thinking that was a convincing argument.

“I can’t believe you’re trying to convince me to let myself be ordered around by a 14-year-old”, Tony scoffed.

“I’m 16”, Peter argued. “And I’m not going to order you around”.

“Oh, that’s reassuring”, Tony mocked.

“It’s happening, whether you like it or not, Tony”, Rhodes said, done. “Unless you want me to reprogram Friday to make her snitch on you whenever you get too self-destructive. Or, unless you want Peter to stop showing up at the workshop”, he added triumphantly. Tony eyed his friend for several moments, a disbelieving look on his face.

“Low blow, Colonel”, he shook his head in disapproval.

“As long as you behave, the kid won’t have to snitch”, Rhodes argued.

Tony’s eyes darted between Rhodes and Peter for several moments, until he finally acknowledged his defeat. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and let his head fall back against his pillows.

“Fine, whatever you tyrants say”, he gave in. “Where’s Pepper? Maybe she can talk some sense into you”.

“She’ll be stopping by to pick you up with Happy soon”, Rhodes said. “You just need to get checked up, and be given a list of a whole bunch of medicine for your heart”.

“Good. She’s the only reasonable person in my personal circle right now”, Tony said, being purposefully petty.

“This whole thing was actually her idea”, Rhodes pointed out, a shit-eating grin appearing on his lips. Tony shook his head.

“I can’t believe this. I feel betrayed right now. I’m betrayed. _Et tu, Brute_ ”, he said, over-dramatically.

“Quit the drama and stay in the bed, Tony Stank. I’m going to tell the doctor you’re awake”, Rhodes smiled affectionately, unlocking the bedroom door and stepping out. As soon as the door closed behind him, Tony turned his head towards Peter.

“This is ridiculous”, he said. “I can’t believe you agreed to this –“

“I know, Mr. Stark”, Peter nodded reassuringly. “I’m not going to do anything you’re not ok with. But you really need to take better care of yourself, you know, and I think it would do you some good to have someone keeping an eye on you”, he shrugged.

“Unbelievable”, Tony closed his eyes. “I’m getting lectured by a kid”.

“Yeah, but I’m a smart kid”, Peter pointed out, actually making finger guns at Tony. At the serious look Tony gave him, Peter dropped his hands to his side with just a tinge of disappointment. “But really, Mr. Stark. We’re just trying to make sure you’re well. You _do_ work a lot. It’s not healthy for someone your age”.

“ _What_ did you just say?”, Tony raised his eyebrows, staring at Peter with indignation. Peter started laughing.

"Hey, I’m just joking. I’m joking, Mr. Stark”, he chuckled, trying to recompose himself, but he couldn't quite keep himself from laughing. After the events of the previous night, Peter felt like his relationship with Tony was on a whole new level, especially after he heard the man refer to him as his son. After recovering from the initial shock, and after realizing that Tony was already fast asleep, Peter spent hours repeating the words in his head, trying to make sense of them and interpret them. He actually ran the words through his head so many times that, when Rhodes arrived to visit Tony, Peter could no longer be sure if what he had heard had been real or just a product of his imagination. He was used to all the adults around him treating him like a kid, but taking into consideration what Pepper had told him about Tony and the way he dealt with feelings on the previous night, the possibility that Tony could actually see him like a son didn't feel completely impossible all of a sudden. This served as a boost to Peter's confidence, and even though he was still a little hesitant about the liberties he could take when talking to Tony, the newfound knowledge that the billionaire didn't see him just as an annoying kid playing superhero was very comforting to him.

“You’re on thin ice, Parker”, Tony pointed a warning finger at him, putting on a serious face that didn’t exactly match his feelings. “I’d watch myself if I were you”.

“I don’t really think you’re _that_ old, though”, Peter added, secretly fearing that he had overstepped that invisible line between him and Tony. “You’re about the same age as Aunt May”, he shrugged.

“I  _know_ ”, Tony rolled his eyes affectionately. “Relax. You can joke around a bit; I don’t bite”.

“Oh, ok”, Peter sighed, sounding a lot more relieved and dropping his shoulders to get rid of a tension that he hadn't even realized he had been holding.

“Though I  _may_  fire you”, Tony added, tilting his head to the side and squinting his eyes, playfully.

“ _What_?!”, Peter asked, voice raising an octave and eyes widening. Tony grinned, but didn’t confirm nor deny his affirmation. “Oh, wait, you’re joking, right? That’s a joke? That's really clever, Mr. Stark”, the boy shook and dropped his head, but there was an almost embarrassed smile on his lips. He kind of wanted to ask Tony if he actually considered him like a son, or if he actually cared about Peter as much as other people seemed to think he did. He couldn't even be sure that Tony  _remembered_  having called him his kid. But the question sat heavily on his tongue and he couldn't quite muster the courage necessary to ask it, afraid that, by doing so, he could end up spoiling the more natural aspect that his relationship with Tony seemed to be gaining.

“Hey, spiderling”, Tony said, after a few moments of comfortable silence passed, unaware of Peter's train of thought. Peter looked at him with the same genuine interest that always appeared on his face whenever Tony taught or explained him something. “Thanks for saving my life”, he said with sincerity. Peter seemed surprised that Tony felt the need to thank him for that.

“It’s ok, Mr. Stark”, Peter said. “You would have done the same for me. You've - You've actually  _done_  the same for me. Several times", he chuckled.

"Yes, but you're basically a child. That's different" Tony argued. "If anyone is supposed to protect you, that's  _me_ ".

"Why?", Peter couldn't help but ask, frowning and curious, never tearing his eyes away from Tony. The billionaire sat on the bed, not exactly meeting Peter's eyes, but not avoiding him, either. He was silent for a long time, trying to find the words he wanted to say, until he finally tilted his head in order to meet Peter's gaze and give him a slight shrug, as if what he was about to say was extremely obvious.

"Because I care about you", Tony said matter-of-factly. "You're an ok kid". Peter actually laughed at this, knowing that it was probably the most he was going to get from Tony for now.

"Thanks?", he said, smiling nervously. "I guess you're an ok dad, too. _D-dude_! An ok dude!", he immediately corrected himself, eyes widening in horror. "An ok dude! I meant dude!"

Tony snorted out a laugh and dropped his head, probably finding Peter's embarrassment amusing. Peter fought hard to hide his blush and recompose himself, hating the way he had slipped. One thing was for Tony to call him his kid while sedated and sleepy; a  _completely_  different thing was for Peter to call Tony his  _dad_.

"It's ok, kid", Tony reassured him, though he was raising an eyebrow at Peter. "Just don't say it in front of Rhodey, or you won't hear the end of it".

"I... I'll, I mean, I didn't..." he sighed, resigning. "Yeah, ok", he nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Sorry", he added, just because he felt like he needed to.

"No need to apologize", Tony rolled his eyes. He was feeling a bit embarrassed as well, but if there was something Tony was good at, was looking confident even when he didn't feel like it. He ignored the happy warm feeling that blossomed in his chest and all across his torso upon hearing Peter refer to him as his dad. He could only be grateful that tears didn't find their way to his eyes. "Now, do me a favor and step away so I can stand up", he added, trying to change the subject before he could actually break down in front of the kid. He waved a hand that signaled Peter to move and shoved the hospital blanket away from his legs.

"Uh, no can do, Mr. Stark", Peter frowned, holding Tony down by his shoulders so that he couldn't get out of bed in a very similar way to what Rhodes had done before. "You should stay in bed until the doctor checks you up", he explained.

"You're grounded", Tony pointed a finger at Peter, at the same time Rhodes reentered the room with the doctor. Tony didn't get to see the small fond smile on Peter's lips as he turned his head to look at his best friend and prepared to answer another cascade of questions that he knew were coming.

**Author's Note:**

> mmmmmmm I don't know what to tell you


End file.
